Jane (Kemp) Leighton (abt. 1785 - 1869)

Born about 1785 in Exeter, Devon, England

Wife of Archibald Leighton — married 24 Feb 1816 in Clerkenwell St James, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 1869 at about age 84 in Brentford, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Jane was born in 1785 in Exeter, according to the 1861 Census.

Jane married Archibald Leighton on the 24th February 1816 at St James, Clerkenwell, Middlesex. The witnesses were Jeffrey Leighton and Ann Straker.^[1]

1841 Census on the 6th June 1841 Jane a bookbinder, was living in Exmouth Street, Clerkenwell, Middlesex with her children Jane, Ellen, Robert and William.^[2][3]

Her husband had been a bookbinder and the business was in Exmouth Street and Jane continued the business when he died.

1851 Census on the 30th March 1851 Jane a bookbinder, was living in Hammersmith Terrace, Hammersmith, Middlesex, England with daughters Jane and Ellen, and Louisa Tews her niece.^[4]

1861 Census on the 7th April 1861 Jane was living in Merton Place, Brentford, Chiswick, Middlesex, England with her children Jane, Ellen and William.^[5]

Jane died aged 84 in 1869 and her death was registered in Brentford, Middlesex.^[6][7]

Children

Jane Leighton (1816 - 1897) aged 80
Ellen Leighton (4.8.1818 - 1890) aged 72
Robert Leighton (1822 - 14.12.1888) aged 66
William Henry Leighton (4.6.1827 - 1885) aged 58

Residence

(6.6.1841) Exmouth Street, Clerkenwell, Middlesex
(30.3.1851) Hammersmith Terrace, Hammersmith, Middlesex
(7.4.1861) Merton Place, Brentford, Chiswick, Middlesex

Occupation

Bookbinder (6.6.1841 - 30.3.1851)

Bookbinding business

Extract from article a Blocking of Leighton's, on website "Bookhunter on Safari"

After the death of her husband in 1841 the business was continued by his widow, Jane Leighton, born Jane Kemp in Exeter in about 1785 and clearly a woman of outstanding enterprise and determination – an unsung heroine of this story. Under her, the firm had re-settled in Shoe Lane by 1848, soon becoming the well-known Leighton, Son & Hodge partnership, with her son, Robert Leighton (1822-1888) and Frederick Hodge. Hodge left the partnership as early as 1853 (although a William Hodge was later involved), but the name remained unchanged throughout the ensuing decades, employing 300 workpeople by 1861 – the leading suppliers of the exotically blocked cloth gilt case-bindings of the period. Jane Leighton, still proudly calling herself a bookbinder aged sixty-five on the 1851 Census (although moderating this to gentlewoman in 1861), died in 1869 – but the firm kept on growing, the workforce reaching 400 by 1881.^[8]

Research Notes

Have searched using FreeReg, FamilySearch, FindMyPast and Ancestry, including Family Public Trees but not including Ancestry's Worldwide Membership, but to no avail regarding a source for Jane's birth. Pickup-178 10:23, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ Jane Kemp's marriage, Ancestry
2. ↑ England and Wales Census, 1841 FamilySearch
3. ↑ 1841 Census Ancestry
4. ↑ England and Wales Census, 1851 FamilySearch
5. ↑ England and Wales Census, 1861 FamilySearch
6. ↑ * Death Registration: "England & Wales General Register Office". GRO Online Indexes - Death (accessed 20 February 2022). Leighton, Jane (Age at death: 84). GRO Reference: 1869 Apr-May-Jun in Brentford Volume 03A Page 57.
7. ↑ Jane (Kemp) Leighton's death, England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007 FamilySearch
8. ↑ Extract from article a Blocking of Leighton's, on website "Bookhunter on Safari" https://ashrarebooks.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/a-blocking-of-leightons/ Accessed by Trevor Pickup on 4 April 2019